Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-03-02
The door closed upon them none too soon.

| Turn. Neltner spoke, Ou1 etiSu AeAe Iuao 1ho
young, untried girl was equal to the emer-
gency and would get at the truth.
The sound of Thompson's feet in the hall
and the closing of the front door was followed
by Kates temperance. Her face was still
pale, but calm
."Well?" said the two women in breath.
aWell," returned Kate, slowly. "Mr. Lee
and Mr.. Falkner were undoubtedly the two
men who took the paper from Johns messen-
ger and brought it here"
sYou are sure?" said Mrs. Scott.
GThere can be no mistake, mother"
aThen,n said Mrs Scott, with triumphant
feminine logic, II don't want anything more
to satisfy me that they are perfectly inno-
cent?"
More convincing than the most perfect
| masculine deduction, this single expression OF
| their common nature sent thrill or SYM.
pathy and understanding through each. They
| cried for O few moments on each others
| shoulders.
'aTo think" said Mrs. Scott, "what that
poor boy must have suffered to have been
obliged to do-that to-to-Bilson-isn't that
the creatures name? suppose we ought to
send over there and inquire after him, with
some chicken and jelly, Kate It's only COM
mon humanity, and we must be just, my
dear; for even if he shot Mr.. Lee and pro-
voked the poor boy to shoot him, he may
have thought it his duty. And, then, it will
avert suspicious"
ITO think" murmured Mrs. Hale, "what
they must have gone through while they
were here-momentarily expecting John to
.me, and yet keeping up such light heart"
II believe, if they had stayed any longer,
they would have told US everything" said
Mrs Scott.
Both the younger women were silent. Kate
was thinking Of Falkner's significant speech
as they neared the house on their last walk;
Josephine was recalling theremorseful pic
ture drawn by Lee, which she knew was his
own portrait. Suddenly she started.
"But John will be here soon; what are we
to tell him2 And then that package and that
letter."
"Don'r DO in hurry to tell him anything
at present, my child" said Mrs. Scott gently.
ut is unfortunate this Mr.. Thompson called
here, but we are not obliged to understand
what he says now about Johns message, or
to connect our visitors with his story. I'm
sure, Kate, should have treated them ex-
actly as we did if they had come without any
message from John; SO do not know why
we should lay any stress on that, or even
- Tha Ia foot ic hat ha
opened our house to two strangers in distress.
Your husband" continued Mr. Hale's
mother-in-law, "does not require to know
more. As to the letter and package, we will
keep that for further consideration. 1t cam
not be Of much Importance or they would
have spoken Of it before; it is probably some
triHing present as return for your hospital
ity. should use no indecorous haste in hav-
ing it opened"
The two women kissed Mrs. Scott with
feeling of relief, and fell back into the
monotony of their household duties 1t is to
be feared, however, that the absence of their
routlswed guests was nearly as dangerous as
their presence in the opportunity it afforded
for uninterrupted and imaginative reflection.
Both Kate and Josephine were at first
shocked and wounded by the discovery of the
real character Of the two men with whom
they had associated so familiarly, but it was
no disparagement to their sense of propriety
to say that the shock did not last long, and
was accompanied with the fascination of dam
ger. This was succeeded by q consciousness Of
aok 1;ol i,3ir
influence over the men who had undoubtedly
risked their lives for the sake OF remaining
with them. The best woman is not above
being touched by the effect Of her power
over the worst man, and Kate ut first allowed
herself to think of Falkner in that light.
But if in her later reflections he suffered
as heroic experience to be forgotten, he
gained something as an actual man to be re-
membered. Now that the proposed rides
from "his friends house" were part of the
illusion, would he ever dare to visit them
again7 Would she dare to see him? She held
her breath with sudden pain of parting that
was new to her; she tried to think of some
thing else, to pick up the scattered threads OF
her life before that eventful day. But in
vain; that one week had filled the place with
implacable memories, or more terrible, as it
seemed to her and her sister, they had both
lost their feeble, alien hold upon Eagles
Court in the sudden presence Of the real genii
Of these solitudes, and henceforth they alone
would be strangers there They scarcely
dared to confess it to each other, but this re-
turn to the dazzling sunlight and cloudless
skies of the past appeared to them to be one
unreal experience; they had never known the
truo wild flavor of their homo except i'll that
week Of delicious isolation Without breath
ing it aloud, they longcd for some vague de-
nouement to this experience that should take
them from Eagles Court forever
It was noon the next day when the little
household behcld the last shred of their illu-
sion vanish like tho melting snow i'll the
strong sunlight of John Halc's return. He
was accompanied by Col. Clinch and Raw
lns, two strangers to the women. Was it
fancy or the avenging spirit Of their absent
companions7 But he, too, looked stranger,
and as the little cavalcade wound its way up
the slope he appeared to sit his horse and
wear his hat with q certain slouch and
absence of his usual restraint that strangely
shocked them. Even the old half-condcscend-
ing, half-punctilous gallantry of bis greeting
Of his wife and family was changed, Us ne
introduced his companions with u mingling
of familiarity and shyness that was new to
him. Did Mrs. Hale regret it, or feel sense
of relief in the absence Of his usual seignorial
formality. She only knew that she was
grateful for the presence of the strangers,
which for the moment postponed matrimo-
NAL confidence from which she shrunk.
"Proud to know you," said Col Clinch,
with sudden outbreak of the antique gal
lantry Of some remote 1Iuguenot ancestor.
"My friend, Judge Hale, must be regular
| Roman citizen to leave such family and
such house at the call Of public duty. Eth,
RawlinsF'
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